Things do go bump in the night.

It is the job of the Central Oklahoma Paranormal Studies (COPS) team to determine if that proverbial bump is a natural occurrence or a supernatural event.

COPS co-directors Tony Hebert and Russell Darnell pinpoint their shared vision and ultimate goal in the COPS motto, “We aim to explain the unexplainable.”

On April 14, the COPS team came to Shawnee to “explain the unexplainable” reports of the “bumps” at Music Unlimited.

Although hauntings can happen anywhere at any time, Music Unlimited is a somewhat unusual place to be haunted. It was built in the early 1980s, so it doesn't share the vale of years with other spooked sites. No one has died and there haven't been any tragic or gruesome episodes on the property. Nonetheless, employees and the business owner Jeff Hawkins have experienced several bizarre incidents.

“On different occasions, I've been sitting in my office (which is located in the main part of the building) when no one is here but me, and heard the warehouse alarm announce the back door has been opened. When I check it out, no one is there and everything is locked up tight,” Hawkins said.

Disembodied footsteps have been heard many times. One such occasion was so real, a drum student quit taking lessons at the store.

“I was teaching drums to this kid and while we were talking, a clear, definite sound of footsteps, followed by foot shuffling, ‘walked' past where we were seated. Both of us stopped talking immediately and just looked at each other. The kid's eyes were as big as saucers. In kind of a shaky voice he said, ‘what was that?' I didn't have an answer for him. It shook me up a little bit, too,” employee Pat Kelly said. “The kid never took another lesson, or came back in the store.”

Another major footsteps event happened to employee Robert Hanson.

“We had a man in here doing some work on the building. I kept hearing someone walking around on the roof. I asked the guy what his buddy on the roof was doing. He told me he didn't have anyone on the roof. He was the only one from the company at the store,” Hanson said.

Some of the reports have been visual. Shadows where shadows shouldn't be, objects moved or disappearing, and odd lights. And one ghostly proclamation was a blunt statement from an eight-year-old boy from Louisiana. He and his family had been displaced due to Hurricane Katrina, and were shopping in the store.

“He stood in front of the guitar wall for a long time, just staring at it. Finally, he came over to the counter and announced, ‘you know y'all have a ghost here,' Kelly said.

These accounts and more piqued COPS interest. A thorough examination was required.

“Russell and I founded COPS on the ideal of conducting proper investigations based on scientific means and intelligent analytical deductions,” Hebert said.

COPS was born in 2006, when Darnell and Hebert met as amateur “ghost hunters.”

“I didn't even know paranormal groups existed when I first started out doing this. I would go out with a digital tape recorder and ask simple questions, but the thought never crossed my mind to start a team until I met Tony,” Darnell said.

The men met by chance when both happened to be at the same place at the same time, the Coleman Theatre in Miami, Oklahoma. The Coleman is rich in history and paranormal activity.

Since COPS was formed, they have investigated many sites, including revisiting the Coleman with astounding results, a glowing orange ball of light floating above audience seats and entrance doors shaking violently when no one was near them.

“As exciting as it is to document paranormal phenomena, it is just as important to us to debunk paranormal claims. We are in the business of scientifically proving what is real and what isn't,” Darnell said.

The COPS team has several members. Five of them were involved in the Music Unlimited investigation: Hebert, Darnell, technical manager Conrad Fanning, case manager Lindsey Miles, and one of the newest members and Tecumseh resident John Copeland IV.

“I began actively searching to join a group about three years ago,” Copeland said. “Some people play golf, go fishing, or go shopping as a hobby. I enjoy fishing, and I find that paranormal investigations have many similarities. Sometimes you catch something, but most of the time you don't. Let me tell you, catching a fish does not have the same adrenaline rush as catching a ghost.”

Golf, fishing, shopping, all can be expensive hobbies, but scientifically investigating the paranormal costs big bucks, and COPS team members do not charge for their services.

“Collectively, we have thousands of dollars in equipment and every dime has come out of our own pockets, but it's worth it, especially when we can help people with serious, genuine concerns. Can't put a price tag on that,” Darnell said.

To record and interpret data from an investigation, COPS members use a computer system, digital voice recorders, analog voice recorders, digital cameras, EMF detectors (gauges energy from electromagnetic fields), walkie-talkies, camcorders, handy cams, night filming illuminators, and “the number one tool in any investigator's bag” flashlights.

In the last eight months, this equipment has documented paranormal activity at a short list of the more than twenty total COPS investigation sites. Music Unlimited would prove to be on that short list.

So what did they find?

The details and findings of the Music Unlimited “bumps” will be in next week's edition.

The article above was found on Google and was published originally on Pottawatomie Online